How Influencers At Afrostylicity Still Market Travel, Lifestyle & Fashion Brands During COVID-19

Social media influencers Joy Nyargem and Hugh Zei of Afrostylicity are calling on corporate travel, lifestyle, and fashion brands nationwide to deepen their engagement with influencers as a way to still continue to market to their ideal audiences during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The co-owners of the influencer marketing and digital content creation platform says the site and their affiliated social media channels on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, and TikTok serve as a bridge between brands/companies and the consumers they want to reach.

Influencer marketing has trended up in recent years. Influencer marketing is the use of prominent public figures to promote products and brands. These public figures exist across virtually every industry, although the travel, fashion, and lifestyle spaces Nyargem is in are the most popular.

“Consumers want to hear authentic, unbiased reviews before they purchase products and services,” Nyargem says, “Brands want to reach highly-engaged audiences. As influencers and digital content creators, we bring the two together.”

Although traditional marketing remains active, more and more brands are leveraging the power of influencer marketing. However, COVID-19 has caused some brands to pause paid campaigns, as they wait and see about when social distancing guidelines and other restrictions may relax in different places around the U.S.

Afrostylicity is demonstrating that brands can still work with influencers right now in a mutually beneficial manner. Doing so can take on different forms. It need not be paid. For example, Nyargem’s blog features affiliate links, providing her with a commission for every product or service sold to someone who clicked the link from her blog.

Afrostylicity.com launched in 2016, with the writers sharing stories of their travel adventures, different fashion finds, and unique products and services they came across. As the blog gained audience, people consistently asked in the comments to find out how the bloggers were able to travel so often, how they got a particular service, or where they found a featured product. About six months post-launch, a brand contacted the bloggers to ask them to use their product and, if they liked it, share it with their audience.

Following that initial influencer campaign, brands including Omni Hotels, Target, Kroger, and Walmart reached out to Afrostylicity. “Everything we share is a product or service we have used or experienced,” Nyargem says. “The audience appreciates that.” A hotel could invite them to the property to showcase the property and amenities to their audience. The influencers have also featured local experiences like an amusement park wanting to showcase a new ride. They’ve invited the influencers, and if the influencers like it, they’ll talk about it.

Nyargem and Zei ensure the content is inclusive of female and male perspectives. They say that’s one of their unique selling points about the Afrostylicity brand. Pre-pandemic, they traveled to Hollywood, Florida. They shared their experience online, even though leisure travel is currently on hold for the foreseeable future, in anticipation of their audience’s future travel plans.

The same applies to fashion and lifestyle brands. The influencers have worked with mass market retailers as well, who are aiming to grow their ecommerce revenue for their fashion, wellness, fitness, and other products – also important during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Both Nyargem and Zei are also committed to social awareness, as they are featured posting about honoring fallen heroes on Memorial Day, as well as demonstrating commitment to the Black Lives Matter movement. They characterize the most recent deaths, which are sparking protests and uprisings nationwide, as, “the same script, just with a different cast, but with the same horrific ending. Enough is enough!” And they call on the unknowledgeable to conduct their own research, educate themselves, and speak up.